29.03. (Tue) 17:30 Czech - Liechtenstein

DID YOU KNOW?

* The Czech Republic are second in Group I with six points from four matches, six points behind group leaders Spain and just two ahead of both Scotland and Lithuania.

* They were finalists at Euro ‘96, their first major finals as a separate country. They reached the semi-finals at Euro 2004.

* Michal Bilek’s side have scored four goals and conceded three so far in the qualifying campaign.

* Liechtenstein are at the bottom of the group, having lost all of their three games so far.

* They have not won a competitive match in 14 attempts, their last victory coming on October 17, 2007 against Iceland (3-0) in a Euro 2008 qualifier.

* They have not won in 15 away games in competitive football, having last registered a victory on the road against Luxembourg (4-0) on October 13, 2004 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.

LAST MEETING

October 12, 2010: Liechtenstein 0-2 Czech Republic

The Czech Republic won 2-0 against Liechtenstein in the reverse fixture at the Rheinpark Stadion. Tomas Necid put the visitors into the lead after just 12 minutes and then a minute before the half-hour mark Vaclav Kadlec found the target to wrap up the points.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Czech Republic: Cech, Pospech, Hubnik, Sivok, M. Kadlec; Hubschman, Rosicky; Plasil, Rezek, Pudil; Baros

Liechtenstein: Jehle; Martin Stocklasa, Michael Stocklasa, Rechsteiner, Vogt; Burgmeier, Buchel, Erne, N. Hasler; Beck, Frick

Prediction

A victory for the Czech Republic looks to be the most likely outcome.

Czech Rep. 4-0 Liechtenstein

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29.03. (Tue) 21:45 Portugal - Finland

DID YOU KNOW?

* Portugal are currently second in Group H Euro 2012 qualifying with seven points from four matches, three fewer than leaders Norway.

* The Seleccao drew their last international match. It was a 1-1 draw with Chile in Leiria last week as Matias Fernandez' wonder-goal on 41 minutes cancelled out Silvestre Varela’s opener after just 16 minutes.

* Portugal coach Paulo Bento’s first game in charge of the national team ended in a 3-1 defeat of Denmark in Porto in the Euro qualifiers.

* Finland are currently fifth in Group E Euro 2012 qualifying with three points from four matches, six fewer than second-placed Hungary, who have played a game more.

* The Eagle-Owls drew their last international match. It was a 1-1 draw with Belgium in Gentbrugge in February as Roni Porokara cancelled out an Axel Witsel opener for the hosts.

* Markku Kanerva was appointed the Finland coach in November 2010 and is actually a caretaker-manager at the moment.

LAST MEETING

February 11, 2009: Portugal 1-0 Finland

Under then coach Carlos Queiroz, Portugal recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Finland in this friendly international. A second half Cristiano Ronaldo penalty proved to be the difference between the two sides.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Portugal: Patricio; J. Pereira, Rolando, Carvalho, Coentrao; Martins, Meireles, Moutinho; Nani, Almeida, Quaresma

Finland: Fredrikson; Raitala, Moisander, Heikkinen, Pasanen; Vayrynen, R. Eremenko, A. Eremenko Jr, Porokara; Forssell, Sadik

Prediction

A win for Portugal should eventually be the final outcome.

Portugal 2-0 Finland

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29.03. (Tue) 21:00 France - Croatia

DID YOU KNOW?

* France are on a six-match winning streak, stretching back to their first Euro 2012 qualifier against Belarus in Paris.
* Furthermore, that streak is something that Raymond Domenech never achieved in his tenure as France coach.
* Similarly, their last international friendly defeat was in Laurent Blanc's first match in charge last August as les Bleus slipped to Norway albeit with a makeshift squad following the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
* This match will allow Laurent Blanc to experiment with his side ahead of this summer's qualifiers with the likes of Laurent Koscielny vying to make his international debut.
* France laboured to a 2-0 win over Luxembourg on Friday night, with "Le President" blasting his forwards for not taking their chances.
* Les Bleus sit at the top of Group D following that win, stretching their lead to four points and a fourth straight win.
* France haven't lost to Croatia, winning three of their four previous encounters.

* Croatia head into this game at the Stade de France on the back of a surprise 1-0 defeat to Georgia at the weekend after a late goal from Levan Kobiashvili consigned them to a first loss in qualifying.
* They sit second in Group B after that defeat, a point behind Greece.
* That slip-up ended a 14-match unbeaten run for Slaven Bilic's side, which stretches back to a 5-1 defeat at Wembley against England in September 2009.
* You would have to go back an impressive three years for Croatia's last friendly loss, which came in a 0-3 defeat to the Netherlands in February 2008.
* Croatia will look to beat France for the first team in five attempts when the two nations square up on Tuesday night.
* Bilic's men are ranked eighth in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, ten places ahead of France.

LAST MEETING

16 June 2004: Croatia 2-2 France (UEFA Euro 2004)

In this Euro 2004 group stage fixture, the then-reigning champions went ahead when Igor Tudor deflected in Zinedine Zidane's free kick. Croatia turned the match on its head after some questionable French defending. Milan Rapaic converted a penalty to equalise before a fine strike by Dado

Prso after a poor clearance by Marcel Desailly put the match in the Croat's favour. An ineffective back pass to goalkeeper Butina put him under pressure and David Trezeguet capitalised to side-foot into an empty net to salvage a draw.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

France: Lloris; Sagna, Mexes, Rami, Evra; M'Vila; Gourcuff, Nasri; Ribery Malouda; Benzema

Croatia: Pletikosa; Srna, Corluka, Simunic,Strinic; Dujmovic; Kranjcar, Modric, Rakitic; Petric, Jelavic

Prediction

France 1-1 Croatia

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29.03. (Tue) 20:45 Ukraine - Italy

DID YOU KNOW?

* Ukraine will co-host Euro 2012 along with Poland.

* Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has 103 caps for the national team.

* Ukraine are winless in their last five matches (D4 L1).

* Andriy Shevchenko is Ukraine's all time leading scorer with 45 goals.

* Italy beat Ukraine 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

* Mario Balotelli and Daniele De Rossi were left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.

* The Azzurri have outscored Ukraine 7-1 in their last three head-to-head meetings.

* Giuseppe Rossi is the only player in coach Cesare Prandelli's 25-man squad who plies his trade outside of Serie A.

* Brazilian-born Thiago Motta scored the only goal of the game in Italy's 1-0 win over Slovenia in Euro 2012 qualifying on Friday.

LAST MEETING

September 12, 2007: Ukraine 1-2 Italy

Italy took the lead in the crunch Euro 2008 qualifier courtesy of Antonio Di Natale's goal five minutes before the half-time interval. Andriy Shevchenko put Ukraine back on level terms in the second half before Di Natale completed his brace in the 77th minute to give the Azzurri a crucial victory in Kiev.


PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Ukraine: Pyayov; Fedetskiy, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Romanchuk; Gusev, Tymoshchuk, Stepanenko, Aliyev; Yarmolenko, Devic

Italy: Viviano; Maggio, Gastaldello, Chiellini, Criscito; Montolivo, Marchisio, Nocerino; Aquilani; Rossi, Gilardino

Prediction

The hosts will field a strong starting XI against the Italians on Tuesday evening but the Azzurri have a good track record against Ukraine and should leave Kiev with a victory under their belt.

Ukraine 1-2 Italy

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29.03. (Tue) 20:45 Germany - Australia

DID YOU KNOW?

* Germany will be without skipper Philipp Lahm and Real Madrid duo Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira after the trio were released early.

* Coach Joachim Loew has designated the Australia friendly as a match in which to experiment, with Arne Friedrich and Mats Hummels expected to start in central defence.

* Miroslav Klose has 61 international goals, seven behind Gerd Mueller's record. Should he appear, the Bayern man will equal Juergen Klinsmann's 108 international caps.

* Die Mannschaft have a perfect record in Euro 2012 qualifying, having won all five of their matches.

* Joachim Loew's 68.8 per cent winning record is the best a Germany coach has ever had.

* Australia finished runners up in January's Asian Cup after losing to Japan in extra time.

* The match will be a homecoming for coach Holger Osieck, a Homberg native who replaced caretaker coach Han Berger last fall.

* Australia have won six and lost just one of their ten matches under Osieck.

* Mark Schwarzer is the most capped player in Australia history, having made his record 88th appearance in the recent Asian Cup final.

* The "Socceroos" are currently ranked 21st in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings.

LAST MEETING

June 13, 2010: Germany 4-0 Australia

Germany began their World Cup group stage campaign with an emphatic win against Australia. Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose scored within the opening 26 minutes, and Thomas Mueller and Cacau netted midway through the second half as die Mannschaft hammered the AFC's top team.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Germany: Neuer; Traesch, Friedrich, Hummels, Schmelzer; Schweinsteiger, Kroos; Mueller, Schuerrle; Gomez, Klose

Australia: Schwarzer; Wilkshire, Neill, Ognenovski, Carney; Holman, Valeri, Jedinak, McKay; Kewell, Kruse

Prediction

Germany 3-1 Australia  

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